


Raise a Glass

by pennysparrow



Series: Flower Shop AU [12]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, F/F, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mild Language, Modern Era, in honor of strike day, kinda meta but not really?, krypto the super therapy dog, which is kinda like barricade day imo but with significantly less angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 07:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15383334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: Katherine hosts a dinner party and a toast is made. In honor of the 119th anniversary of the Newsboy Strike.*It says its part of a series but that's literally for my own organization so please read and enjoy this one shot*





	Raise a Glass

Katherine had decided to host a dinner party on a whim. And not a good one. It’s not that Kath couldn’t cook, she just underestimated her ability. Luckily a frantic phone call to Race later and he and Crutchie were helping her pull it off. Meanwhile Jack and Spot had been sent on a liquor store run, the boys not content with her selection of boxed wine. 

She left Racetrack and Crutchie in charge of her kitchen as she rearranged the furniture. Setting up the folding tables that Medda had sent over with Jack and pushing her couch against the wall so that there was room. Once they got back, Jack and Spot set about helping her put the chairs out. 

She was frantically putting the last of the napkins down when Spot chased her towards her room. “C’mon Pulitzer. Guests will be coming soon and you’re still runnin’ around in sweats.” She planted a kiss on his startled cheek and went to get changed. 

She was putting the last of her mascara on when the buzzer for the building’s front door sounded. Katherine bustled to let whoever it was in and turned to look at where her boys were setting the food out on the table for her. 

She smiled at the four of them. “Thank you for all your help. Honestly. This would’ve been a bust without you guys,” Kath admitted. 

There was a lot of waving and “pshaws” from them. Crutchie had that evil little smirk of his though and Katherine braced for impact. “Damn straight. Which lucky for you we’re not cause do you think it would be this good if we were?” 

It was startlingly loud in the apartment with the five of them laughing at that. A knock at the door startled her and she opened it as the boys still howled. Sarah, David, and Les stood on the other side. Les was trying to peer around her to see what was so funny. The other two Jacobs raised their eyebrows. All Kath could do was shake her head. 

“Come on in,” she said, giving her girlfriend a quick kiss. “We’ve got drinks, Spot’s been voluntold to bartend. There’s food that I kinda helped cook.” 

The laughter started again and Katherine smiled. She was sure that despite the insanity of this afternoon the party was going to be fine. And way more fun than any her father ever threw. More and more of her guests trickled in until her apartment was filled. 

Darcy was talking to Davey about the implications of a newsboy strike at the turn of the twentieth century. Sarah shared a look with Kath over her glass of wine. “I knew our nerdy brothers would get along,” Sarah whispered in her ear and Kath snorted. Blink, Albert, and Spot were trying to one up each other with stories of dumb tourists they’d seen in Times Square while Specs insisted that they were nothing compared to the stuff you saw in DC. Medda was catching up with Mush and Finch as Crutchie and Jack were showing Les her now impressive VHS collection. Bill was laughing with Smalls and Sniper at something on Smalls’s phone, likely memes if Kath knew Smalls. 

They were just sitting down to dinner when the intercom buzzed again. Kath leapt to answer it and to be honest she was a little surprised. Jack shot her a quizzical look from across the room. As far as he knew her guests were all here. Which was because she hadn’t actually thought this guest would show up. 

The polite knock sounded, and Katherine opened the door with a smile.

“Denton! You made it!” She loved her longtime editor, he’d been a friend and mentor to her since college, so she decided that he should be invited to her first official dinner party. As her boss though she assumed he wasn’t coming. 

“Of course, Katherine,” he said with a smile. 

She stepped aside to let him in. Her friends all craned their necks to see who it was. The look of shock on Darcy’s face made Kath’s fingers itch to grab her phone and snap a picture. “Everyone, this is my editor and friend Bryan Denton. Denton, these are some of the greatest people you will ever meet.”

“Did you just quote Mean Girls?” Race was smiling. 

“You and Jack aren’t the only theater nerds in the world,” she quipped back. “Can I get you a drink?” she asked Denton. 

“Um sure, rum and coke?” Denton asked. 

“I’m on it. I need another anyway,” Spot said as he hopped up. 

“Mr. Denton, why don’t you come sit next to me?” Medda smiled and Denton went to sit down. “Medda Larkin, theater owner and mother.” She told him proudly as he shook her hand. 

“A pleasure to meet you Miss Larkin. Katherine has mentioned you quite a bit over the years. All good things I can assure you.” Denton sat down, and Kath could tell they had hit it off. 

Spot came back and handed Denton his glass before sitting down next to Race again. “Well feel free to serve yourselves,” Kath said and with that it was practically chaos. Everyone reaching and passing and teasing. Kath just thanked her lucky stars that no one decided to start a food fight. Something she wouldn’t put past Race, Blink, and Mush. 

Conversation flowed easily, it helped that most of them had spent nearly all their free time together for the past couple years. Katherine’s nerves about the dinner’s success abated. By the time they were serving the cookies Crutchie had baked for dessert, Kath felt confident enough to call it a win. 

There was a huff from under the table and Finch rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Hold your horses,” he stood and moved to where he’d dropped his backpack by the door. He turned back to look at the table with a frown. “Well c’mon if you’re that hungry.” 

Krypto came running over to him from under the table and Katherine smiled as Denton’s eyes widened in surprise. “Has that dog been under there this entire time?” he asked them. 

“You didn’t realize that?” Katherine laughed. 

“No. I didn’t know there was a dog in here at all,” Denton admitted. He was still blinking in surprise and Kath realized a little belatedly that he might be allergic or afraid of dogs. 

“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” Finch said as he got up from giving Krypto his supper. “He’s mine. Krypto, trained therapy dog. I can assure you that he won’t bite but if he makes you uncomfortable we can go home.” 

“Oh no, I love dogs. I’m just shocked he wasn’t begging,” Denton admitted. 

“That’s cause Krypto is the best,” Les informed Denton proudly. 

Finch laughed. “Don’t say that, you’ll give him a complex. He’s just well trained.” 

“I’ll say,” Denton said. Krypto finished eating and trotted back over to the table. “Krypto? Right it’s Krypto?” Finch nodded. “C’mere Krypto,” Denton called and immediately started scratching the dog behind the ears. 

“Oh he’s your best friend now,” Albert said with a laugh. Denton just smiled and seemed more than content with that. 

“I have a dinner party game,” Medda announced as she sipped her tea. Kath had learned, Medda always took her dessert with tea. “If you don’t mind me stepping in of course, Katherine.”

“Not at all,” she smiled. Katherine linked her fingers with Sarah’s under the table and waited curiously for Medda’s game. 

“I’ll ask a question and we all have to answer it with the utmost honesty. No matter if that answer is even possible, as long as it’s true.” Medda explained. 

“Oh, you’ve had us play this before,” Smalls smiled. She’d taken to sitting on her girlfriend’s lap sometime around when Kath was clearing the plates. Not that Sniper seemed to mind. 

“That’s cause it’s fun Smallsie,” Jack teased his little sister. Smalls looked as though she were going to flip him off but thought better of it and ended up sticking out her tongue. Jack just snickered. 

“Alright,” Medda grinned at her children’s antics, “first question is: if you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?”

“Oh that’s easy,” Mush said. “A pair of new shoes.” 

“What’s wrong with the ones you have?” Blink asked, glancing under the table to Mush’s feet. 

“Not these! My running shoes. They’re falling apart, I don’t even have matching laces anymore,” Mush complained. 

“Well maybe you ought ta buy a new pair,” Blink said with a shrug. 

Mush rolled his eyes and gave Kath a look. It was half exasperation and half love. “I’ve been trying but every time we go to the store we end up buying you six things and I walk out with nothing.” 

“Oh. Whoops. Next time Mush? Go without me,” Blink grimaced but laughed at his own joke. Katherine shot him a smile. Blink shrugged back at her. 

“I think I know what I’d want,” Davey started cautiously. Katherine could tell he wasn’t sure whether Mush and Blink were done with their inconsequential marital spat. 

“Dave, I love ya, but if you say something cheesy like ‘world peace’ we’re breaking up,” Jack informed them all dryly. 

“Oh, so world peace is cheesy, Jackie?” Spot drawled with a smirk. 

“No. But answering a question like that with world peace is cheesy,” Jack argued. 

“And what would you say? An all-expense paid trip to Santa Fe?” Spot fired back. 

“And what if I might? If you think you know people so well there Spot, what would Racetrack want?” Jack smirked. 

“You think you’re clever, Jackie boy. That as Race’s best friend you know him better than I do as his boyfriend. Well let’s see,” Spot’s smiled turned shark-like at the challenge. 

“Oh this is gonna be interesting,” Race said as he raised his eyebrows. “Anyone want to start making bets? I can assure you the odds are five to one Jack loses.”

Katherine glanced around the table and everyone seemed to be amused. This wasn’t exactly a normal night for them and it’s not like this exact bet had happened before but they were all used to it. Bill and Darcy less so, they didn’t come to Sunday brunches, but they had interacted with the others more than enough times to know these sorts of things were common place. 

She looked over at Denton, who was still petting Krypto where the dog had sat down at his feet. He gave her a confused smile but before she could try and explain Jack opened his big mouth. 

“Alright. I’ll take those odds. What Racetrack Higgins wants the most is to go back in time and see Hamilton with the original cast.” 

Katherine whipped her head to look at him. The smug grin and way he leaned back in his chair. Arms crossed and chin jutting up just a little. Kath knew Jack Kelly well enough to know that he wasn’t just being confident. He was being cocky. 

She glanced at Race. His face was a mask of neutrality. There’s a reason he wiped the floor with everyone at poker. 

“Ha. Good try, Kelly,” Spot barked out a short laugh. Like it was a tennis match they all turned to see what Spot would say. “Antonio Higgins wants nothing more in the world than a permanent box at the Sheepshead Races.” 

All eyes turned to Race. He looked between his best friend and his boyfriend for a few seconds. Kath found herself holding her breath. 

“Jack Kelly you’re a fucking idiot. You even called me ‘Racetrack’ for fuck’s sake,” Race laughed. 

Spot snorted. “Hamilton,” he muttered, shaking his head. 

Smalls started clapping and soon they were all applauding Spot’s efforts. And Spot, being an over dramatic little shit when he wanted to, stood and took a bow. Jack started sulking. 

“Can I give my answer now?” Davey asked as he patted Jack’s back. Seeing no objections, he nodded and continued. “Well. I would want to be able to go back in time and ask people _how_. How they got the courage to seize the day and change the world. People like Washington and Hamilton,” he said nodding to Jack and his boyfriend’s earlier answer. “People like the French revolutionaries. Like those newsboys we were talking about earlier,” David motioned to Darcy who smiled in acknowledgment. 

“What newsboys?” Denton asked curiously. 

“In 1899 the newsboys of New York formed a union and organized a strike against the papers when they raised the price,” David spoke like a teacher addressing a class. 

“I’ve heard about that before,” Katherine said. “I think that my family’s newspaper is one of the ones that was effected by the strike.” 

“Weren’t they just kids?” Finch asked. “Newsies I mean. In the pictures in history books it’s always a little kid.” 

“Not necessarily little but yeah. They were kids,” Davey nodded. 

Jack whistled. “Going up against a jerk like Joe? That took guts.” 

“Might I remind you that you went up against my father before,” she teased Jack. 

Jack shook his head. “That’s different Kath. My livelihood didn’t depend on it.” 

“There’s a whole Wikipedia article on it,” Crutchie informed them, holding up his phone. “Says that the strike would’ve been going on right about now actually.” 

“How’s that for coincidence?” Sarah asked with a smile. “Maybe we can’t time travel, but we can try and be a little braver. Fight a little harder for what we believe in. Especially in light of this new information.”

“And five of us work in the newspaper industry,” Specs pointed out. “Bill might not be in print but it’s still journalism. And Jack, you did political cartoons for the paper in college.” 

“This all feels ironically serendipitous,” Darcy said. 

“So maybe it’s fate,” Kath told him with a smile. She’d been reading the wiki article on her phone and found the newsies inspirational. The little guy does have a voice and when enough little guys yell they get heard. Especially when someone held a megaphone for them. Kath wanted to hold that megaphone. She wanted to make sure people’s voices were heard. Just like the newsies’ were. 

“How about a toast?” Medda proposed. “To the newsies of New York and their legacy.” 

Around the table they all raised their glasses. Katherine, Sarah, Les, and Finch. Crutchie and Albert. Smalls, Sniper, and Medda. Denton. Darcy and Bill. Specs and Mush and Blink and Racetrack and Spot. David. Jack. As one they spoke. “To the newsies of New York!”

**Author's Note:**

> I know in the musical it's Race who says he wants new shoes and Romeo talks about the box at Sheepshead but I'm basing this off the movie version of King of New York. Also fun fact, I watched 92sies and Newsies Live practically back to back and it was an experience.


End file.
